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Given the proper stimulus and behaviour,
humans are able to form relationships with just about anything - even
with robots! It's becoming more common to have robots sub in for humans
to do dirty or sometimes dangerous work. But researchers are finding
that in some cases, people have started to treat robots like pets,
friends, or even as an extension of themselves. That raises the
question, if a soldier attaches human or animal-like characteristics to a
field robot, can it affect how they use the robot? Julie Carpenter
from the University of Washington interviewed highly trained soldiers in
the US who use robots to disarm explosives – about how they feel about
the robots they work with every day. Part of her research involved
determining if the relationship these soldiers have with field robots
could affect their decision-making ability and mission outcomes.
Soldiers told her that attachment to their robots didn't affect their
performance, yet acknowledged they felt a range of emotions such as
frustration, anger and even sadness when their field robot was
destroyed. The soldiers rely on robots to detect, inspect and sometimes
disarm explosives, and to do advance scouting and reconnaissance. Some
robot operators saw their robots as an extension of themselves and felt
frustrated with technical limitations or mechanical issues because it
reflected badly on them. Researchers have previously documented just
how attached people can get to inanimate objects, be it a car or a
child's teddy bear. While the personnel in Carpenter's study all
defined a robot as a mechanical tool, they also often anthropomorphised
them, assigning robots human or animal-like attributes, including
gender, and displayed a kind of empathy toward the machines. "They were
very clear it was a tool, but at the same time, patterns in their
responses indicated they sometimes interacted with the robots in ways
similar to a human or pet," Carpenter said. Many of the soldiers she
talked to named their robots, usually after a celebrity or current wife
or girlfriend. Some even painted the robot's name on the side. Some
soldiers told Carpenter their first reaction to a robot being blown up
was anger at losing an expensive piece of equipment, but some also
described a feeling of loss. "They would say they were angry when a
robot became disabled because it is an important tool, but then they
would add 'poor little guy,' or they'd say they had a funeral for it,"
Carpenter said. Carpenter wonders how that human or animal-like look
robots will affect soldiers' ability to make rational decisions,
especially if a soldier begins to treat the robot with affection akin to
a pet or partner.

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